I sure love me some Maru the cat. Most cats act the way Maru does but the owner actually takes the time to record it all. So if you haven't experienced Maru, here you go....
And speaking of cats, tomorrow in Josh's Adventures in Art the project will be Klimt's Cat Kliban.
Here is description...
"To merge the art styles of Gustav Klimt and B. Hap Kliban the students wil form a decorative faux silver-leaf secessionist style work with aluminum foil then contrasting with a cartoon cat as substitute for skin texture in Klimt's Golden Phase works."
OMG, 2 of favorites artists in a mashup project. How cool is that???
We'll see how it goes and hopefully I can do the project too. :)
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
The Ring to rule them all
The cool gifts keep on coming to celebrate the LA Kings Stanley Cup. Last night the Kings played the Vancouver Canucks who they eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. It was a big deal since we lost to them in a first round series a couple of years ago. It is also doubly sweet since the Canuck have been the Presidents Trophy winner 2 years in a row. This is awarded to the team that has the most points at the end of the season but that doesn't usually transfer over to winning the Stanley Cup.
Okay, I reluctantly admit the Canucks are a very good team but there is an intense rivalry between the 2 teams which has just increased greatly since April. So Twitter was ablaze with snarky tweets from both team fans but the one I liked was from a LA fan to be respectful of the Canucks fan at the game and to congratulate them on their Presidents Trophy win.
The best was from another LA fan was that Vancouver will finally get their Stanley Cup rings...when they attend the January 28th game at Staples where everyone will receive a replica ring. Something along those lines since I always go over 140 characters. :) Really snarky but funny.
That leads me to the ring....I wasn't sure how cheesy this ring was gonna be but I was really surprised at how nice it is. Sure, it's not exactly like the authentic SC rings but it sure is cool. It is metal, has all the important details and will be a treasured keepsake for the LA Kings fans. :) So thrilled with it.
It's too large for a woman to wear it comfortably but I'll find a way...
Okay, I reluctantly admit the Canucks are a very good team but there is an intense rivalry between the 2 teams which has just increased greatly since April. So Twitter was ablaze with snarky tweets from both team fans but the one I liked was from a LA fan to be respectful of the Canucks fan at the game and to congratulate them on their Presidents Trophy win.
The best was from another LA fan was that Vancouver will finally get their Stanley Cup rings...when they attend the January 28th game at Staples where everyone will receive a replica ring. Something along those lines since I always go over 140 characters. :) Really snarky but funny.
That leads me to the ring....I wasn't sure how cheesy this ring was gonna be but I was really surprised at how nice it is. Sure, it's not exactly like the authentic SC rings but it sure is cool. It is metal, has all the important details and will be a treasured keepsake for the LA Kings fans. :) So thrilled with it.
It's too large for a woman to wear it comfortably but I'll find a way...
Monday, January 28, 2013
Drip Candles
These were a really fast knit since I had a houseful of sick kids last week so ta-da!!
They used up quite a bit of leftover sock yarns which started with the best intentions with 3 sock yarns the look great of the foot/heel but then I ran out and had to switch to other yarn. They still look great and they are very warm socks.
Unfortunately, they turned out a tad too large so I can either use them as house socks when my feet are freezing or find a person with womens size 10 feet.
My leftover sock yarns are dwindling down so that I'm down to a gallon ziploc bag after these Drip Candle socks and the Apple Core blanket. :)
So you know what that means? I must knit more socks to get more leftovers. :)
They used up quite a bit of leftover sock yarns which started with the best intentions with 3 sock yarns the look great of the foot/heel but then I ran out and had to switch to other yarn. They still look great and they are very warm socks.
Unfortunately, they turned out a tad too large so I can either use them as house socks when my feet are freezing or find a person with womens size 10 feet.
My leftover sock yarns are dwindling down so that I'm down to a gallon ziploc bag after these Drip Candle socks and the Apple Core blanket. :)
So you know what that means? I must knit more socks to get more leftovers. :)
Opener
Well, the flu bug hit the household last week which didn't totally wipe us out (thank goodness). I managed to find a flu shot for Tyler a week before he came donw with a fever so I think it minimized the worst of it. He got to stay home for 2 days (plus the holiday Monday) went back to school Thursday while Josh got the fever that morning & has been home ever since. We have another free day (teacher inservice day) so we can benefit from it. I was nervous since Josh is the only one in our family who didn't get a flu shot but he only had a low grade fever with cold symptoms.
Both kids are back to their normal selves along with some lingering congestion/cough so hope that will be the end of it.
Also last week, NHL hockey began!! Woot woot!
This was the hottest ticket of the season...the cheapest seats that usually go for about $45 skyrocketed to about $150.
Yay for season tickets!! Thanks honey!! <3 br="">
Okay, I've never seen a Stanley Cup banner ceremony before but later learned that passing around the Cup was something that hasn't been done before. Some people didn't like it but we're Hollywood and the long wait was deserved something a bit extra.
Here is the set of photos from the opener....
The Kings lost that game but now they can focus on the rest of the fast & furious season. Go Kings!
Both kids are back to their normal selves along with some lingering congestion/cough so hope that will be the end of it.
Also last week, NHL hockey began!! Woot woot!
This was the hottest ticket of the season...the cheapest seats that usually go for about $45 skyrocketed to about $150.
Yay for season tickets!! Thanks honey!! <3 br="">
Okay, I've never seen a Stanley Cup banner ceremony before but later learned that passing around the Cup was something that hasn't been done before. Some people didn't like it but we're Hollywood and the long wait was deserved something a bit extra.
Here is the set of photos from the opener....
The Kings lost that game but now they can focus on the rest of the fast & furious season. Go Kings!
Monday, January 21, 2013
oh boy
Hockey finally started again with a roar so that occupied most of my weekend. ;) Hector and I went to the home opener game for the Kings vs Chicago to see the Stanley Cup banner ceremony. It was really cool. I have some pics on my p & s camera so the quality won't be as good and I really wanted to relish the moment. Unfortunately, the Kings lost which we have to consider shortened training camp, season and pretty much everything associated with hockey.
We get Center Ice free for the rest of the month so I spent the rest of the weekend watching lots & lots of hockey. Yes it was a bummer to see the Kings not fare as well but several other teams have it just as bad or worse so just chalk the first week as ugly, weird hockey and hope your team jells fast. :) It's sort of a sprint season with 48 games in 99 days so hold on and enjoy the ride.
Kind of like the Hunger games....may the odds be ever in your favor!! :)
Each fan was given a mini banner so I just hung mine for now on the framed photo. I still need to add my pennants which are somewhere (hopefully not crushed) in our house.
I still knit a lot especially during hockey on TV so I mostly listen and glance up every so often. I do miss stuff but thats what rewind is for. ;)
I had to send my Seahorse socks to the frog pond. They're so pretty but they were not going to fit me and I wasn't about to give these away so they will be ripped back for something else. I just have to remember to pick a thicker fingering weight yarn/bigger needles to make this pattern work.
I even turned these inside out and still got some puckering from the stranded parts. Its a good thing I'm frogging them...
So that meant I only had one other pair of socks cast one and I usually need two in case my brain doesn't respond to one that particular moment, then I have another one to do.
In December, it was leftover month where I managed one pair finished. I got the book with Drip Candles in it, so I cast on last night. Pretty good progress too. They are fitting snug so I will go up a needle size to see how that goes but I don't mind giving these away if I have too.
On the side note, I signed up for our Comic Con ID badges so we can purchase tickets to Wonder Con this year. Don't know if we can tickets to the big one but this will be fun. The Wonder Con is in Anaheim so we don't have to stay in a hotel and save a little moola. The 3 day pass is an afforable $40 if we buy online so we shall keep our fingers crossed.
That means I need to work on my steampunk costume and start planning Hector's too. Fun fun fun..
We get Center Ice free for the rest of the month so I spent the rest of the weekend watching lots & lots of hockey. Yes it was a bummer to see the Kings not fare as well but several other teams have it just as bad or worse so just chalk the first week as ugly, weird hockey and hope your team jells fast. :) It's sort of a sprint season with 48 games in 99 days so hold on and enjoy the ride.
Kind of like the Hunger games....may the odds be ever in your favor!! :)
 |
| Slowly adding stuff to the wall. |
I still knit a lot especially during hockey on TV so I mostly listen and glance up every so often. I do miss stuff but thats what rewind is for. ;)
I had to send my Seahorse socks to the frog pond. They're so pretty but they were not going to fit me and I wasn't about to give these away so they will be ripped back for something else. I just have to remember to pick a thicker fingering weight yarn/bigger needles to make this pattern work.
I even turned these inside out and still got some puckering from the stranded parts. Its a good thing I'm frogging them...
So that meant I only had one other pair of socks cast one and I usually need two in case my brain doesn't respond to one that particular moment, then I have another one to do.
In December, it was leftover month where I managed one pair finished. I got the book with Drip Candles in it, so I cast on last night. Pretty good progress too. They are fitting snug so I will go up a needle size to see how that goes but I don't mind giving these away if I have too.
On the side note, I signed up for our Comic Con ID badges so we can purchase tickets to Wonder Con this year. Don't know if we can tickets to the big one but this will be fun. The Wonder Con is in Anaheim so we don't have to stay in a hotel and save a little moola. The 3 day pass is an afforable $40 if we buy online so we shall keep our fingers crossed.
That means I need to work on my steampunk costume and start planning Hector's too. Fun fun fun..
Friday, January 18, 2013
Meet The Players
Last Saturday as season ticket holders, we got tickets to meet the LA Kings for autographs and photos. This is offered yearly but this is the 1st year as Stanley Cup Champions! :)
For the most part, getting autographs is not that hard if you go to the practice & hang out in the parking lot. The players are very nice and approachable but there are a few that park behind the gates so it's much more difficult to catch those guys.
Here I am with Dustin Brown, captain of the LA Kings. I had him autograph my Stanley Cup book too. I really need, need a haircut. ;0
He has perfected his smile so not display his missing 5-6 teeth in the front.
Here he is with Kathy and his smile.
Kathy seems very thrilled to be with the 3 Kings players, doesn't she? The players were grouped in 3-4 per section but these guys are close friends and wanted their table jammed up to one another. I guess they couldn't bear to be about 3 feet apart for 3 hours. Uff. They're still pretty nice to look at...
We managed 6 players as the lines were pretty long but he got the hard to find players so now I can work on the rest of my autographs at practice.
For the most part, getting autographs is not that hard if you go to the practice & hang out in the parking lot. The players are very nice and approachable but there are a few that park behind the gates so it's much more difficult to catch those guys.
Here I am with Dustin Brown, captain of the LA Kings. I had him autograph my Stanley Cup book too. I really need, need a haircut. ;0
He has perfected his smile so not display his missing 5-6 teeth in the front.
Here he is with Kathy and his smile.
Kathy seems very thrilled to be with the 3 Kings players, doesn't she? The players were grouped in 3-4 per section but these guys are close friends and wanted their table jammed up to one another. I guess they couldn't bear to be about 3 feet apart for 3 hours. Uff. They're still pretty nice to look at...
We managed 6 players as the lines were pretty long but he got the hard to find players so now I can work on the rest of my autographs at practice.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Jaywalkers
Yipppeeee! I finished my Jaywalkers in LA Kings colors just in time for the opening home game this Saturday. The Stanley Cup banner will be raised before the game and the season where we defend the Cup.
My socks are wonderful with fit and colors. I like them so very much!! :)
I'm so happy with them. I love the purple which is no longer in their color scheme and I kind of wish I had another skein to make handwarmers.
The pattern shows off the striping and transforms the regular stripes to cool chevrons. Pretty sweet, huh?
I came pretty close to having identical socks too.
Hopefully, the socks will bring the team luck. Go Kings Go!!
My socks are wonderful with fit and colors. I like them so very much!! :)
I'm so happy with them. I love the purple which is no longer in their color scheme and I kind of wish I had another skein to make handwarmers.
The pattern shows off the striping and transforms the regular stripes to cool chevrons. Pretty sweet, huh?
I came pretty close to having identical socks too.
 |
Friday, January 11, 2013
Adjustments
I'm not one to do New Years resolutions but slowly over the past year I've changed my eating habits (loosely following The 4 Hour Body) so I lost about 15 lbs and the best part is maintaining that loss.
Even with the holidays, my weight stayed pretty much the same which is very encouraging to me. So I can now work towards my next goal for another 20 lbs to go although I'm entirely concerned with a 'number' and more about my well being.
The next adjustment is movement/exercise and a couple of nights ago, I put in the Just Dance 4 in our Wii U. We have a couple of other Just Dance games that the kids and I really enjoy and the last couple games have a Just Sweat category because everyone knows that dancing is great for cardio. I do the 30 minute dance workout and sweat up a storm. I do want to try to dance at least 4 times a week along with my weekly yoga session.
Dancing last night I managed to dislodge both of my rings which flew across the room so now I have switched them to other larger fingers. Feels kind of weird but better to keep my precious rings safe. :)
So think what you want to accomplish this year and make small goals that I like to think of as baby steps. :) Have fun and think positive.
Even with the holidays, my weight stayed pretty much the same which is very encouraging to me. So I can now work towards my next goal for another 20 lbs to go although I'm entirely concerned with a 'number' and more about my well being.
The next adjustment is movement/exercise and a couple of nights ago, I put in the Just Dance 4 in our Wii U. We have a couple of other Just Dance games that the kids and I really enjoy and the last couple games have a Just Sweat category because everyone knows that dancing is great for cardio. I do the 30 minute dance workout and sweat up a storm. I do want to try to dance at least 4 times a week along with my weekly yoga session.
Dancing last night I managed to dislodge both of my rings which flew across the room so now I have switched them to other larger fingers. Feels kind of weird but better to keep my precious rings safe. :)
So think what you want to accomplish this year and make small goals that I like to think of as baby steps. :) Have fun and think positive.
Happy
The kids and I spent some time dancing last night and this was our favorite. Even if you don't have a Wii U, you can still follow along and have loads of fun...
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
Prize
I won a prize! I knit these socks because I want to & enjoy a challenge so SKA really supports & encourages sock knitters. The group offers prizes if a knitter finishes a pair that meet the criteria but there are a lot of members so usually I don't expect to win plus the prizes are totally random.
I think for the month of November, there were over 350 finishers and about 14 prizes so I was totally shocked that I won. I won once before about 2 years ago but not all the socks I've knitted were eligible so you get the idea. :)
So here is my lovely yarn.
There are so many independent dyers out there and I really like to support them if I can and it's great that Lisa Souza is located in California. :) Here is her linky link.
I will have to finish up my other projects so I can try this out. So excited...
I think for the month of November, there were over 350 finishers and about 14 prizes so I was totally shocked that I won. I won once before about 2 years ago but not all the socks I've knitted were eligible so you get the idea. :)
So here is my lovely yarn.
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| Colorway: Bayberry which is a coral/orange. |
There are so many independent dyers out there and I really like to support them if I can and it's great that Lisa Souza is located in California. :) Here is her linky link.
I will have to finish up my other projects so I can try this out. So excited...
Monday, January 07, 2013
Monday
First of all, I have been semi-productive today. I really need to work on some CE (continuing education) to keep my pharmacist license up to date and I managed to finish 4 hours of credits this morning. My brain is feeling the strain now but I'm happy that I started and only 26 credits to go. I have till the end of April and I hope to work on my CE once a week to get this done.
As you see from a previous post, I finished my Shur'tugal socks this weekend. I started the Hold Your Seahorses socks for my January challenge (flora/fauna theme) that also has colorwork which can extremely slow going for me since I knit 2 at a time & that means 4 balls of yarn hangingoff these socks. It can be a lot of tangles if I don't keep on top of it. The pattern in gorgeous but more complicated than ones I have done in the past. Each sock has its own pattern which is mirrored so I have to keep up with 2 pages of charts.
I dug out my Jaywalkers which I think started somewhere in the fall or earlier because of the NHL lockout and I'm using my Kings colorway. You can tell the yarn is several years old because it has purple in it and that is not in the LA Kings color scheme anymore. This is termed my easier knitting since right now, it only has a 2 row pattern. I really like how the stripes are coming out.
So over the weekend, I received my Outside the Sox book from Amazon and these unusual, amazing socks caught my eye. I found some rainbow yarn and cast on for the Hexagon socks. This will be when the other 2 patterns can't hold my attention. :)
I absolutely love our Netflix streaming and our latest anime is Darker Than Black. I'm usually knitting during TV so I miss a lot although I'm listening. Luckily Hector is there is fill in the gaps for me and help me identify the numerous characters that appeared in Vol. 1 then reappear in Vol. 5. :) I also queued up The Adventures of Tin Tin which I really enjoyed. Full of action and fun, I'm sure I missed lots of things so I'll probably watch it again because I really enjoyed it. Hector even has some old Tin Tin books that he dug out and what do you know, he has the book that the movie was about. How funny is that? I watched the first season of Downton Abbey which I loved and have the 2nd season in our DVD queue but I'm horribly bad at watching DVDs. I don't know why and maybe that's why I prefer streaming. I don't have to deal with putting the DVD in the player, watching it and then returning it. With streaming, I can watch whatever I want and it remembers where I left off, etc.
I saw somewhere that the 3rd season of Downton Abbey was starting last night so I set the DVR to record it but I still want to see the 2nd season beforehand. I searched online and saw that the 2nd season in available for streaming thru Amazon Prime. Yay! We have that too although it's not used as much as Netflix. So I was a very happy girl in starting season 2 last night. :)
Good programming and NHL hockey is back! 2013 is looking pretty good right now. :)
As you see from a previous post, I finished my Shur'tugal socks this weekend. I started the Hold Your Seahorses socks for my January challenge (flora/fauna theme) that also has colorwork which can extremely slow going for me since I knit 2 at a time & that means 4 balls of yarn hangingoff these socks. It can be a lot of tangles if I don't keep on top of it. The pattern in gorgeous but more complicated than ones I have done in the past. Each sock has its own pattern which is mirrored so I have to keep up with 2 pages of charts.
 |
| Colorful in blue and orange. Lots of charts. |
I dug out my Jaywalkers which I think started somewhere in the fall or earlier because of the NHL lockout and I'm using my Kings colorway. You can tell the yarn is several years old because it has purple in it and that is not in the LA Kings color scheme anymore. This is termed my easier knitting since right now, it only has a 2 row pattern. I really like how the stripes are coming out.
 |
| Lovely manipulation of the self striping yarn. |
So over the weekend, I received my Outside the Sox book from Amazon and these unusual, amazing socks caught my eye. I found some rainbow yarn and cast on for the Hexagon socks. This will be when the other 2 patterns can't hold my attention. :)
 |
| Funky hexagon socks. |
I absolutely love our Netflix streaming and our latest anime is Darker Than Black. I'm usually knitting during TV so I miss a lot although I'm listening. Luckily Hector is there is fill in the gaps for me and help me identify the numerous characters that appeared in Vol. 1 then reappear in Vol. 5. :) I also queued up The Adventures of Tin Tin which I really enjoyed. Full of action and fun, I'm sure I missed lots of things so I'll probably watch it again because I really enjoyed it. Hector even has some old Tin Tin books that he dug out and what do you know, he has the book that the movie was about. How funny is that? I watched the first season of Downton Abbey which I loved and have the 2nd season in our DVD queue but I'm horribly bad at watching DVDs. I don't know why and maybe that's why I prefer streaming. I don't have to deal with putting the DVD in the player, watching it and then returning it. With streaming, I can watch whatever I want and it remembers where I left off, etc.
I saw somewhere that the 3rd season of Downton Abbey was starting last night so I set the DVR to record it but I still want to see the 2nd season beforehand. I searched online and saw that the 2nd season in available for streaming thru Amazon Prime. Yay! We have that too although it's not used as much as Netflix. So I was a very happy girl in starting season 2 last night. :)
Good programming and NHL hockey is back! 2013 is looking pretty good right now. :)
Chilly Sunday
It's already colder than normal in SoCal, so what do we do with our Sunday afternoon? We go to Chill at the Queen Mary. There are many ice sculptures to view, walk through and even slide down on. We were told to dress warm and we did with parkas offered too. The kids and I took a parka with Hector being a brave person refusing the parka.
Lots of neat sculptures to see with a large area of a Queen Mary slide for anyone over 4 years old and smaller whale slide for the younger set. We took Hector's all weather camera because at 19* I wasn't going to risk my DSLR to that.
Here are some photos...
There are lots more photos to see on my photostream at Flickr but you get the idea. It got pretty cold after spending significant time in there and it was something different & unique.
In addition to our Chill admission, we also got to tour the Queen Mary which is pretty massive and cool. Unfortunately, the camera battery died since I failed to charge it up beforehand. Hector and I will go back to tour the Russian submarine and have the camera ready...
Lots of neat sculptures to see with a large area of a Queen Mary slide for anyone over 4 years old and smaller whale slide for the younger set. We took Hector's all weather camera because at 19* I wasn't going to risk my DSLR to that.
Here are some photos...
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| I finally got to use my 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic mittens. Tyler soon took them away from me. |
There are lots more photos to see on my photostream at Flickr but you get the idea. It got pretty cold after spending significant time in there and it was something different & unique.
In addition to our Chill admission, we also got to tour the Queen Mary which is pretty massive and cool. Unfortunately, the camera battery died since I failed to charge it up beforehand. Hector and I will go back to tour the Russian submarine and have the camera ready...
Sunday, January 06, 2013
Shur'tugal Socks
It didn't take too far into the New Year to complete my first socks of 2013. Applause....It helps that NHL hockey was locked out until this morning so I had plenty of time to knit. I started these in September to join in a KAL and with all the twisted stitches, I soon fell behind. I picked them back up in December and this time around, those twisted stitches clicked in my bedfuddled brain and I got into the groove.
Also for once, I paid attention to the pattern to begin the toe portion which really helped since I tend to start the toe too soon which results in smaller socks. Yes, I could redo the toe to fit me but I'm more of a forward person and would rather find a person to fit the socks than fit the socks to the person. I kept knitting the toe as written then tried them on myself to be pleased to find they fit perfectly.
The yarn was great to work with too...lots of variation of purples with some black and light portions to give the socks great texture. We're headed off to Chill later this afternoon so I will test the warmness of the socks in 19* temperatures.
So on to the pictures....
Note: It takes some creative movement of the camera to take pictures of one's own feet. :0
The heel was slightly different than the heels that I've typically knit but look very nice.
My feet are toasty warm as I'm typing this and will for sure keep my feet warm later in the Ice Kingdom at Chill.
Also for once, I paid attention to the pattern to begin the toe portion which really helped since I tend to start the toe too soon which results in smaller socks. Yes, I could redo the toe to fit me but I'm more of a forward person and would rather find a person to fit the socks than fit the socks to the person. I kept knitting the toe as written then tried them on myself to be pleased to find they fit perfectly.
The yarn was great to work with too...lots of variation of purples with some black and light portions to give the socks great texture. We're headed off to Chill later this afternoon so I will test the warmness of the socks in 19* temperatures.
So on to the pictures....
Note: It takes some creative movement of the camera to take pictures of one's own feet. :0
The heel was slightly different than the heels that I've typically knit but look very nice.
My feet are toasty warm as I'm typing this and will for sure keep my feet warm later in the Ice Kingdom at Chill.
Friday, January 04, 2013
Redux
Not much is new but I knit the Prep School beanie a few weeks ago and Hannah sent me a pic of the recipient Chad wearing the beanie.
It's been abnormally cold here in SoCal and its nice to see that the hat fits. :) Don't mess with USC.
It's been abnormally cold here in SoCal and its nice to see that the hat fits. :) Don't mess with USC.
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